Mustang Club of Maryland

The hood bumper mounts on the new radiator core support didn’t line-up with the original location and they don’t have the part # stamped on top. So we removed the old hood bumper mount, sand blasted them and spot welded them in the correct location
Thanks!
Pat










Here you can see the original mount with the stamp # on top and the repro mount without










Now they fit the indent on the bottom of the hood. Note the hood was not removed after we installed it with the fenders emplace.

You guys are doing amazing work on this Mustang. It will last forever. Your great grand kids will get to driver her!

Your son deserves an "A Plus" in Automotive class. really Fantasic job on the Stang.

_________________

"I think people are so passionate about Mustang because it gives you a sense of freedom. especially in a red convertible.

The time with Kurt is the best part for me! And hearing others say they enjoy watching the build is cool! Thanks guys!
Pat

The muscle car community both in the real world and on line is awesome! I have met/communicated with many car people over the years with my other car projects. My 68 Dodge Charger was a great collaboration throughout the build with other people both on line, at car shows and swap meets. And my 72 Pontiac T/A was the same; everyone was generous with their time, information, and spare parts. And now with my son’s Bullitt replica we are experiencing the same goodwill. Today I received a pair of early 68 rear side marker indents from another mustang owner (Aolshove THANK YOU!) I also had other members offer to help with the same parts! A lot of my car friends are loyal to only one brand of automobile, and a few call me a car whore (haha) because I will buy & restore any car no mater what brand. But if there is one thing I have learned whether it be a GM, Ford, or Mopar, cool cars bring out the best in all of us! It’s nice having my son see how generous people can be!
Thanks!
Pat

Kurt & I have been working on replacing the forward passenger floor and repairing the frame at the torque box. Someone in the past had made a half a$$ floor patch and didn’t address the rust in the frame rail.



We just cut out enough of the old floor to get access to the torque box & frame rail, leaving most emplace for rigidly & reference.



With the floor cut away we could see the extent of the rust and plan our fix.



No question if the Factory had put little seam sealer at this joint it would have prevented a lot of rust, needless to say we will!






With torque Box & floor frame rail remove we cut 2 ¼” off the bottom of the main frame and welded in a new lower frame rail. Note we cut and welded the new frame just in from where the new floor frame rail will go as to cover the evidences of a repair.

The 1st set of front floor frame rail we received didn’t match the original we removed. So we found another supplier that carried what they called “Premium front floor support” and they are made with the same 14ga steel and cut & shaped like the originals.





We stamped the part #/date into the new frame rail


After prepping the car & new floor frame rail the new frame rail fit perfect. Note we are using the trans/floor cross support along with a few measurement to get the rail lined up.




Anywhere one couldn’t see we lay longer and more welds, as you can see inside the frame rail. But if it was visible we used the same methods as the Factory. I wasn’t sure how well the pinch welder would work on the 2 3/8” frame, but with the inner and outer frame touching each other and a 4 second pinch weld it work great!





We are going use some POR 15 in this seam between the two frame rails, then seam seal it

Progress on Kurt’s car was a little slow the past two weeks as I was working the Miami Boat Show, but we are back on it now!



Using aluminum bottle opener with tape over it Kurt remove the drip rail trim on the driver’s side.





Then we screwed the new right side lower firewall/floor to the new torque box and cut through the original floor and replacement floor at the same time to get the best fit for a but weld and a seamless fit.




Almost finished with the sanding of the welds and all the visible weld will look like the seam along the tunel, seamless.
Thanks!
Pat

This morning we test fit a Randall’s power rack & pinion system just to make sure there was no need for any frame modifications.












We disassembled the steering column, sand blasted it and then with a set of pipes use for shaping steel, we hammered the lower indents out as to let the new lower column bearing fit.










Using the same holes we drilled and taped for 3 #8-32 screws to hole the lower bearing emplace.
















With only the lower column assembled and just loosely installed we mounted the rack with no problem. The system fit great and looks awesome!
Thanks!
Pat

With all the column parts cleaned, and primed, I mixed some flattening agent with some Awl-Craft jet black to achieve low gloss finish.








We use a hot glue gun to hold the brake-away mount on the column support. The factory injected plastic to hold them.





Here is a before & after shot of all the column parts







With the new Randall’s lower bearing we needed to cut about ¾” off the bottom of the inter column tube. Then we added a foam gasket similar to what was originally used to seal it from the engine compartment, but we added it to center the tube and keep it from moving.







Next we installed part of the upper column to the top of the inter column tube then with outer tube clamped in old Workmate we slid the two together.











The top of the column that holds the turn signal goes on next with two square head bolt holding the main tube to the top of the column along with two 1” #6 screws. We installed a new upper steering shaft bearing which is held emplace two snap rings and with a little grease on the lower part of the shaft we slid the upper shaft into the new Randall’s lower female shaft.











Cutting the old turn signal harness so we could clean & reuse the black chafe guard over the new harness. Then we install the new turn signal with 3 screw, this is all that keeps the upper steering shaft from come out of the column as it holds the upper bearing.











Using a cool little tool I had at work to release the clips holding the wires in the plug we removed one wire at a time as to get the correct wire in the right hole. Only problem was we had two extra wires, not sure what they are for???







The last thing was to install some heat-shrink tubing over the collapsible part of the outer tube. I couldn’t find any mustang parts supplier that offered the heat-shrink tubing so I looked else ware and found the correct tubing at McMaster-Carr. The shortest I could buy was 5’ so I have enough for 4 more columns, anyone need one?

Great work! This is the best Mustang rebuild thread on the net!

_________________

1990 Mustang GT
http://www.ocstangs.com

Looking great!

_________________
-Eric
2010 GT Premium
85 SVO 1C
95 Ranger Splash

We replaced the driver’s side torque box, frame rail, and lower firewall this weekend.








Same problem as on the right side, the front & back frame rail and torque box rusted through where they are welded together. As with the right side we cut the lower frame rail off and welded a patch rail on.









The floor frame rails look & fit as originals. Additional welds were added inside the rail & torque box but anywhere visible we used the pinch welder.









The Dynacorn torque boxes look and fit just like the originals!













The drives side lower firewall patch panel did not match well along the top edge so we cut the top where it matched it was more work but it now looks & fits closer to original.







Just a little more sanding on the welds and repair the top of the tunnel and we will be ready for the new floor!
Thanks!
Pat

The last part of the firewall to repair was the top of the transmission tunnel. Whoever replaced the front floors years ago got a little to liberal with the saw and cut parts of the tunnel for no reason and also cut through the floor cross member.





Here you can see part of the original lip of the tunnel that was cut and just hanging on by a small weld.










Now its time for the new floor!




The pile of rusty old metal Kurt has cut out is getting larger! I think that’s a good thing???
Thanks!

Pat

When we removed the pedal assembly from the car we noted an earlier repair that needed a better fix!






With the pedals removed you can see the wear on the clutch pedal shaft and a older repair to the mount.







The Dremel worked great cutting the old repair & original bushing off











Using a Scott Drake master roller bearing repair kit we welded in two large washers. We used the brake pedal and a spare shaft for aligning the new roller bearing. And we welded the ware spot on the shaft as well.





Here is a photo of the original bushing and the new roller bearing









With all the parts cleaned & repainted we started by using hot glue to hold the column bolts on as we did on the other column mounts.











Note the wave washer goes on the bearing 1st













With a little grease on the roller bearing and new plastic bushing in the brake pedal assembly the clutch pedal shaft slides in and is held in with a snap ring.

Next week on the 15th of April will mark 1 year that Kurt has owned his Mustang and 6 months ago that we started the restoration. The gentleman that Kurt bought his Mustang from gave us a file with all the past repair orders and receipt from 3 other owners. The oldest receipt is dated September 18, 1985 and it was from Hall’s Auto Service in Richmond VA, 3 owners before Kurt. For $1,557.28 they removed the motor, rebuilt it by boring it .030, polishing the crank, and a valve job along with a few other things. The mileage on the invoice was 69,079 and today it shows 85,973 only 16,894 miles from 1985 to 2011 (26 years) that’s inline with other receipt with mileage in the 1990’s.

The owner’s name and phone number was on the invoice so I called, hoping it was still in-service and left a message. Two hours later the past owner called back and was delighted to talk about his old Mustang! He was the 2nd owner and bought it from a dealer in 1970 (only two years old) He owned it for 17 years selling it two years after having the motor rebuilt. I asked if the 69,079 on the invoice was the total mileage and he said it was actually 169,079 trouble free miles. I also asked if he had any paper work or old pictures of the car back in the day and he said he would dig up what ever he had and send it to us.

It was great talking with him and learning more about the cars history. But I think he got a bigger kick out of talking about his old Mustang and hearing how it is my son’s car and that we are restoring it from the ground up! I also gave him a link to the thread so he could check it out! Cool guy! Sounded like he was in his 70’s and I hope he finds a few pictures!
Thanks!
Pat

That is really cool and just adds to the value of the Mustang. I'm sure that guy was happy to hear it is still kicking around. Now you guys add your piece of history to it and someday it'll get passed on either in the family or to another family. That's why I love cars and the stories that go with them.

_________________
Dave

by , on Flickr
Some people are like Slinkys. They have no purpose, but they sure bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

With the front floor out we took advantage of the leg room and sanded & prepped the firewall and under the dash for paint.







It’s great how the door hinge backing plates are removable on the mustang. This allowed us to POR-15 that part of the door jamb that is inaccessible on most cars. We plan on painting the firewall & under dash the color of steel as we painted the hinge backing plates. This looks have been unpainted when it was built.
Thanks!
Pat

I used to cuss like hell when those damn plates would fall off/in when I swapped/replaced doors on the early Mustangs...

_________________
-Eric
2010 GT Premium
85 SVO 1C
95 Ranger Splash